A blog about planning, planning law and planning policy

Disclaimer

The information on this blog is not intended to be advice, legal or otherwise. You should not rely on it and I do not accept liability in connection with it. If you do have a planning law question on which you would like advice, seek legal advice from a suitably qualified solicitor. Specific advice should be sought for specific problems.

The Government launched this strategy today, part of its proposals to stimulate growth, recognising the role played by new housing. I met with some architects last week and as we discussed the Government’s Plan for Growth, they practically fell about laughing when I took them through the policy of giving greater power to local communities […]

That was the headline on Planning’s website last Friday 28th October, following the Government’s debate in the Lords on the NPPF. But is that actually what she said? It is not what one would expect, because s.38(6) does of course allow plans to be overridden by material considerations. Planning applications are to be decided in […]

At last. It takes The Times to publish a letter putting the record straight on the presumption. It is not from me – The Telegraph has failed so far to publish any of the half-dozen or so letters I have written to it – but from George Dobry QC, the very distinguished planning barrister, and […]

I have been pointing out for some time that the presumption is not new, and dates from 1923. This point was made by Michael Harrison QC (who became a distinguished High Court judge) in a 1992 article in the Journal of Planning and Environmental Law, and by Professor Michael Purdue in his analysis (also published […]

Yesterday the Government issued its “Myth-buster” on the National Planning Policy Framework.

Readers of this blog and other articles by me will know that I have been pointing out for some time that the presumption in favour of development is nothing new and can be traced back to 1923 (see for example my article on […]

Twenty-three former presidents of the RTPI have written to the Telegraph today calling for reasoned debate on the draft NPPF and offering the resources of the RTPI to mediate what they call the openly-hostile debate. That is very helpful.

The National Trust can perhaps claim to have got the ball rolling with its petition […]